Idioms – Safety & Risk

Hey guys!

Everybody knows the importance of learning some idioms and colloquial expressions, especially when you live in a foreign country. We always learn a lot of them by communicating with native speakers or watching movies and series. In this section, you learn some idioms and expressions to communicate in a more natural way when speaking English in a foreign country.

Here are a few Idioms related to the topic safety and risk.

* by the skin of your teeth – when you manage to do something but you do it very nearly fail. (por pouco)

In the Men’s First Division, the champions survived by the skin of their teeth.

* a close shave – when you are very near to suffer an accident or a defeat.

(por um triz)

He had a close shave when a seven foot polar bear ran at him while he was filming a documentary about animals in Canada.

* the coast is clear – when you are able to do something because nobody is there to see you doing it. (a barra está limpa)

You can come out now. She’s gone. The coast is clear.

* a good / safe bet – when something is safe or useful to do. (uma aposta segura)

I was going to buy a house, but I think an apartment will be a safe bet this time.

* in safe hands – when you are being looked after someone who will make sure you’re not being harmed (em boas mãos)

Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of your kids. They’re in good hands with me.

 * play it safe – when you don’t take any risks. (jogar seguro)

If you want to play safe, cut down on the amount of salt you eat.

* be playing with fire – when you take big risks and it’s likely to cause problems. (brincar com fogo)

During this economical crisis don’t make huge investment as you could be playing with fire.

* put all your eggs in one basket – to put all your efforts or resources into one course of action and not be able to do anything else if this fails. (colocar todos os seus ovos em uma única cesta)

Never put all your investment eggs in one basket.

* be skating on thin ice – to do something which could have unpleasant consequences. (estar patinando no gelo)

He told me I was skating on thin ice and should change my attitude.

* stick your neck out – when you say something other people are afraid to say, even though this may cause trouble for you. (arriscar um palpite, dar a cara a tapa)

I wanted to stick my neck out, but she told me it was too risky.

* take your life in / into your hands – when you take a lot of risks to do something. (arriscar tudo)

You take your life into your hands when you do these crazy manouvers.

* to be on the safe side – when you do something to protect yourself from harm or trouble, althouh it’s unlikely to be necessary. (por via das dúvidas, para prevenir)

I didn’t think it was serious, but I took her to the doctor’s just to be on the safe side.

I hope you learned some new idioms today, see you next time!